To amend section 2329.26 and to enact sections 121.086, 2703.10, 5321.20, 5321.21, 5321.22, 5321.23, and 5321.24 of the Revised Code to require a landlord to notify tenants when a foreclosure action is filed, to require the Director of Commerce to prepare a publication to assist owners and tenants of foreclosed residential rental property, to require the officer taking lands and tenements to notify the owner of the property of the date, time, and place of the sale of the foreclosed property, to require landlords to notify tenants when a property is foreclosed and when a sale is scheduled, to provide for continuance of a rental agreement after a foreclosure sale, to impose a civil penalty upon the landlord if the landlord fails to notify the tenants when a property is foreclosed, and to provide civil remedies for a tenant whose landlord violates the bill's provisions.

Section 1. That section 2329.26 be amended and sections 121.086, 2703.10, 5321.20, 5321.21, 5321.22, 5321.23, and 5321.24 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 121.086.  The director of commerce shall prepare a publication for distribution to owners and tenants of residential rental properties that are the subject of foreclosure actions. The publication shall include a list of available resources to assist owners of residential rental properties to retain their property and to assist tenants in obtaining assistance if relocation is necessary. The director shall make the publication available to clerks of courts of common pleas in this state for distribution to owners and tenants of residential rental properties that are undergoing foreclosure.

Sec. 2329.26.  (A) Lands and tenements taken in execution shall not be sold until all of the following occur:

(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(1)(b) of this section, the judgment creditor who seeks the sale of officer taking the lands and tenements or the judgment creditor's attorney does both of the following:

(i) Causes At least thirty-five days prior to the date of the sale, whether or not there is a default judgment, causes a written notice of the date, time, and place of the sale to be served in accordance with the procedure in divisions (A) and (B) of Civil Rule 5 upon the judgment debtor and upon each other party to the action in which the judgment giving rise to the execution was rendered and includes with the written notice a statement that if the property is residential rental property the judgment debtor who is the owner of the property must comply with divisions (A)(5) and (6) of section 5321.20 of the Revised Code;

(ii) At least seven calendar days prior to the date of the sale, files with the clerk of the court that rendered the judgment giving rise to the execution a copy of the written notice and included statement described in division (A)(1)(a)(i) of this section with proof of service endorsed on the copy in the form described in division (D) of Civil Rule 5.

(b) Service of the written notice and included statement described in division (A)(1)(a)(i) of this section is not required to be made upon any party who is in default for failure to appear in the action in which the judgment giving rise to the execution was rendered.

(2) The officer taking the lands and tenements gives public notice of the date, time, and place of the sale for at least three weeks before the day of sale by advertisement in a newspaper published in and of general circulation in the county. The court ordering the sale may designate in the order of sale the newspaper in which this public notice shall be published, and this public notice is subject to division (A) of section 2329.27 of the Revised Code.

(3) The officer taking the lands and tenements shall collect the purchaser's information required by section 2329.271 of the Revised Code.

(B) A sale of lands and tenements taken in execution may be set aside in accordance with division (B) of section 2329.27 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 2703.10.  (A) When a holder of a mortgage files a complaint to initiate a foreclosure action on a residential rental property, along with the summons that is served on the owner of the property, the clerk of the court of common pleas shall do all of the following:

(1) Include a statement that if the property that is the subject of the foreclosure action is residential rental property, the owner of the property must comply with section 5321.20 of the Revised Code;

(2) Include a description of the penalties for failing to comply with section 5321.20 of the Revised Code;

(3) Include a notice that if the property that is the subject of the foreclosure action is residential rental property the owner of the property must indicate that fact in the owner's answer to the complaint;

(4) Include a statement that the owner of the residential rental property must include the names and addresses of the tenants of the residential rental property in the owner's answer to the complaint.

(B) When the owner of residential rental property files an answer with the clerk of the court of common pleas to a complaint to initiate a foreclosure action on the owner's residential rental property, the owner shall indicate in the answer that the property that is the subject of the foreclosure action is residential rental property and shall provide the names and addresses of the tenants of the residential rental property.

Sec. 5321.20.  (A) A landlord who is the owner of a residential rental property that is the subject of a foreclosure action shall do all of the following:

(1) Within sixty days after receiving a summons that contains a notice of foreclosure, provide written notice of that foreclosure to any tenant of the property and include in the written notice a statement that the tenant may contact the Ohio foreclosure prevention web site at savethedream.ohio.gov or at the toll-free telephone number 1-888-404-4674 to obtain a copy of the publication on foreclosure prepared by the director of the department of commerce pursuant to section 121.08 of the Revised Code;

(2) After providing the written notice described in division (A)(1) of this section to any tenant of the property and within sixty days after receiving a summons that contains a notice of foreclosure, file an affidavit with the clerk of the court of common pleas certifying that the landlord provided the written notice described in division (A)(1) of this section to every tenant of the property;

(3) Include a notice of the foreclosure in any written rental agreement the landlord enters into after receiving the summons with a notice of the foreclosure action;

(4) Provide a written notice of foreclosure to a tenant at the time of any oral rental agreement the landlord enters into after the landlord has received a summons with a notice of foreclosure;

(5) Provide each tenant at the property with written notice of the date, time, and place of the scheduled sale of the foreclosed property at least twenty-one days before the date of the sale at auction;

(6) After providing each tenant at the property with written notice of the date, time, and place of the scheduled sale of the foreclosed property, file an affidavit with the clerk of the court of common pleas certifying that the landlord provided each tenant at the property with that written notice.

(7) Not more than seven days after the confirmation of the sale of the property subject to the foreclosure action if the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009," Pub. L. No. 111-22 (2009) has been repealed or has expired, provides the names of the tenants at the property who were not current on their rental payments under the rental agreement as of the date of the confirmation of sale to the successor in interest.

(B) Any written notice the landlord provides pursuant to this section shall include a statement in substantially the following form:

"This property is undergoing foreclosure. The case number for this foreclosure action is ............... (case number). For more information on this action, you should contact the .......... (your county) County Court of Common Pleas, .......... (address), at .......... (phone number) or ................ (web site).

A sale at auction could occur as a result of this foreclosure. Currently, [the sale of this property has been set for .......... (time, date, and place)] or [no date for sale of this property has been established]. Ohio law requires that I provide you with written notice of the sale at least twenty-one days before it takes place.

If there is a sale of this property at auction, your current rental agreement will be subject to the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009," Pub. L. No. 111-22 (2009). If the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009" has expired or been repealed on or before the date of the confirmation of sale and if you are current on your rental payments under the rental agreement on the date of the confirmation of sale, your current rental agreement will convert to a month-to-month rental agreement upon the sale of the property unless you and the successor in interest mutually agree to a different termination date for the rental agreement.

Note: With a month-to-month rental agreement, either the tenant or the landlord may terminate the agreement by providing written notice of termination to the other at least thirty days prior to a date on which the rent payment normally is due. The rental agreement then terminates on that rent payment date."

(C) If the landlord does not file as required by division (A)(2) of this section the affidavit with the clerk of the court of common pleas certifying that the landlord provided written notice of the foreclosure action to the tenants, the clerk shall, within seven days after the expiration of the sixty-day requirement that the landlord provide written notice of the foreclosure action to the tenants, send the written notice described in division (B) of section 5321.20 of the Revised Code to the tenants of the property.

(D) If the landlord does not file as required by division (A)(6) of this section the affidavit with the clerk of the court of common pleas certifying that the landlord provided written notice of the date, time, and place of the scheduled sale of the foreclosed property to the tenants at least twenty-one days before the date of the sale at auction, the clerk of the court of common pleas shall, no later than fourteen days before the date of the sale at auction, notify the landlord of the landlord's requirement to provide each tenant at the property with written notice of the date, time, and place of the scheduled sale of the foreclosed property and to provide the clerk with an affidavit certifying that the landlord provided that written notice.

Sec. 5321.21.  Any rental agreement for a residential rental property that is the subject of a foreclosure action is subject to the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009," Pub. L. No. 111-22 (2009). Upon the repeal or expiration of the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009," any rental agreement for a residential rental property that is the subject of a foreclosure action shall convert to a month-to-month rental agreement upon a court's approval of a sale at auction pursuant to section 2329.31 of the Revised Code if the tenant under the rental agreement is current on the tenant's rental payments under the rental agreement on the date of the confirmation of sale unless the successor in interest and the tenant mutually agree to a different termination date for the rental agreement. The initial successor in interest in the property shall be subject to the month-to-month rental agreement and shall be the landlord under the month-to-month rental agreement or the alternative rental agreement mutually agreed to by the successor in interest and the tenant as provided in this section. The successor in interest has the right to enter the property subject to division (A)(8) of section 5321.04 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5321.22. Within seven days after the confirmation of the sale of the property subject to the foreclosure action pursuant to section 2329.21 of the Revised Code, the owner of the property subject to the foreclosure action shall forward to the successor in interest all security deposits held by the owner of the property on behalf of the tenants of the property. The successor in interest shall return any deposit to a tenant when the rental agreement ends in the same manner that this chapter provides for tenancies that end pursuant to the terms of the rental agreement, except that the successor in interest shall be obligated to return a security deposit only to the extent that the security deposit was forwarded to the successor in interest from the owner of the property as provided for in this section.

Sec. 5321.23. (A) A tenant may recover reasonable attorney's fees as well as the greater of actual damages or one month's rent and obtain injunctive relief to enforce the rental agreement, or both, if a landlord or a successor in interest violates section 5321.20, 5321.21, or 5321.22 of the Revised Code, fails to provide a written notice that section 5321.20 of the Revised Code requires, or fails to honor a rental agreement established under section 5321.21 of the Revised Code.

(B) If the landlord fails to provide the tenants with the written notice required under section 5321.20 of the Revised Code and fails to file an affidavit with the clerk of the court of common pleas certifying that the landlord provided the tenants with that written notice, the court may impose upon the landlord a civil penalty that equals the cost that the clerk incurs for sending out the written notice in accordance with division (C) of section 5321.20 of the Revised Code plus one hundred dollars per rental unit, not to exceed one thousand dollars. The clerk shall pay each collected civil penalty to the county treasurer for deposit in the county treasury.

Sec. 5321.24. The rights and remedies provided for in sections 5321.20, 5321.21, 5321.22, and 5321.23 of the Revised Code are in addition to and do not preempt any other rights that a tenant may be entitled to under any other provision of the Revised Code. Upon the repeal or expiration of the "Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009," Pub. L. No. 111-22 (2009), nothing in this section shall prevent a successor in interest from providing a thirty-day notice to terminate a month-to-month rental agreement created under section 5321.21 of the Revised Code on the first day that a rental payment is due following the confirmation of sale.

Section 2. That existing section 2329.26 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.